Online Poker is Now Legal in West Virginia

West Virginia becomes the fifth state to legalize online poker.

West Virginia became the latest state to legalize online poker and casino games late last week.

Following passage by the state House and Senate, HB2934 was allowed to become law on March 29 after Governor Jim Justice elected not to sign or veto the bill.

Online gaming in West Virginia will fall under the authority of the West Virginia Lottery Commission who will be responsible for administering regulations, licensing and the collection of taxes and fees.

Officially the law will take effect on June 7, 2019, 90 days after it completed passage through the legislature. And while it is possible that online gambling will be up and running in West Virginia before the end of the year, the time required to approve regulations, issue licenses and perform testing will likely mean that the market launch will be pushed into 2020.

But currently the US Department of Justice views the pooling of online poker by operators across state lines as being in violation of The Interstate Wire Act of 1961 and has given operators until June 14, 2019 to become compliant with the new interpretation.

However, the adverse opinion of the DOJ has already begun to impact online poker in the US. Not only is the viability of the AAPN in question, but the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has indicated that the delay in launching its online gambling market was at least partially due to the revised opinion of the Wire Act.

Additional pressure on online poker could come before the matter of the new DOJ opinion is settled law if financial institutions decide to stop processing transactions related to online gambling.